


Through Thick and Thin

by BitterSnowflake



Category: Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Chronic Pain, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, chronic pain syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:29:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29659674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitterSnowflake/pseuds/BitterSnowflake
Summary: Thank you so much for reading!
Relationships: Tom Hiddleston x Reader, Tom Hiddleston/Reader, Tom Hiddleston/You, tom hiddleston x you
Kudos: 15





	Through Thick and Thin

You were having a really bad day pain wise. You were hurting so much that you couldn’t move from the bed to the couch without Tom’s help. You felt on the verge of tears and smiled appreciatively at him when he brought you a hot water bottle to place against your aching stomach. He had brought your pillow to the couch and put the duvet on top of you to keep your joints from getting cold and thereby ache even more than they already did. You didn’t have much of an appetite during those bad days since the pain made you feel nauseous, so Tom made you a smoothie that you could sip on while watching some series on Netflix with him.

You smiled faintly as Tom carefully moved your aching legs to sit on the couch with them in his lap. He massaged your calves ever so gently to relieve some of the pain and make you more comfortable.

“I’m so sorry that you have to go through this, Tom,” you told him regretfully. You were feeling very emotional and had thought a lot about how Tom sometimes had to cancel plans to take care of you. Today for example he had planned on seeing a friend, but since you had a rough night, he decided to stay home with you instead. You felt so bad about getting in the way of things. You often tried to hide your pain from him, to disguise how bad it really was to not worry him, but he often saw right through your efforts. He could tell when it got really bad, no matter how hard you tried to hide it.

“Don’t feel sorry for me, darling. You’re the one in pain,” he told you and looked at you sympathetically with his soulful blue eyes. It was far from the first time you had apologised about your condition. You had told him about it as early as on your first date, because you wanted to make sure that he knew what he was getting himself into. “I mean it, [your name]. Don’t you dare feel sorry for me. I’m so incredibly lucky to have you.”

“But I’m a burden,” you objected.

“No, you’re not a burden, darling. You’re my life partner, my fiancée,” Tom said and held up his left hand to show you the ring on his ring finger. “Through thick and thin, remember?”

You smiled briefly as you looked down at your own engagement ring. You had promised each other to stick together and had even set a date for your wedding. You had been together for three years now and Tom had stayed true to his word and stuck by your side through your painful episodes. It wasn’t always as bad as it was now, some days were better than others. You did have a lot of fun together in spite of your condition. Tom’s positive attitude was often what kept you afloat during the more difficult times.

“Please, Tom. If it gets too much for you, promise me you’ll break up with me. Don’t stay with me because you feel like you have to or because you feel bad for me,” you requested. “You deserve better than this.”

“Honey, we’ve talked about this,” Tom told you and looked at you almost sternly. “I know you’re feeling emotional right now, because you’re in a lot of pain. But it hurts when you time and time again begin to question our relationship because of it.”

“I’m sorry, Tom,” you apologised and blushed slightly. He was right. You had had this conversation before, plenty of times, and it always ended the same way; with him assuring you that he truly loved you and didn’t want to live without you. Tom carefully moved your legs from his lap and got up from the couch to sit down on the floor next to you. His face was close to yours.

“I love you, [your name] and I don’t want to live without you,” he said and gazed into your eyes. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt?”

“Seven... and a half,” you said with a pained expression on your face.

“A strong eight then,” Tom concluded. He was used to you trying to play down how much pain you were really in. “I think it’s about time you take some medication for it. You barely slept last night because you were hurting so much, you need to rest,” he said decidedly.

“But what if I get addicted?” you asked concernedly. You were very hesitant to even try the opioids that had been prescribed to you and had declined every time Tom suggested you should try them.

“You’ve been in a lot of pain for days now, darling. If the medication helps, you can get some proper rest. You really need it. One pill won’t get you addicted and I promise, I will keep an eye on you. Please, take it,” he pleaded.

“Fine,” you agreed in a weak voice. You were really hurting a lot.

“Thank you,” Tom said and went to the kitchen to get you the strong medication you had been too scared to even try. He came back with a pill and a glass of water. You took them and swallowed the pill with some of the water before handing the glass back to him.

“Thank you,” you said and Tom smiled warmly at you.

“Hopefully, you’ll feel better soon,” he said and leaned in to give you a kiss. You deepened the kiss and felt a thrill of excitement run through your body, but this in turn caused the pain to worsen. You felt like crying as you thought about how unfair it was that your own body was doing this to you. Tom frowned slightly as he looked at you. “Darling, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you assured him.

“You know what?” Tom asked as he interlaced his fingers with yours.

“What?” you asked and smiled at him.

“You are the strongest person I know,” Tom said and you could no longer hold back the tears. He was being so incredibly sweet and understanding when it came to your chronic pain syndrome.

“Thank you,” you said through your tears. You didn’t feel like a strong person, but him telling you that you were strong really meant a lot to you. “I love you so much, tom. You have no idea how grateful I am to have you. You’re making me stronger by being there for me. You are my light in the dark.”

“You’re making me cry,” Tom said emotionally and took his glasses off to wipe the tears in his blue eyes. “I’m grateful to have you too. I feel like the luckiest man alive to have you in my life. Your strength inspires me to stay strong when things get difficult. I don’t think you have any idea how strong you really are to go through all this. To be in so much pain and still manage to smile.”

You smiled at him through your tears. You felt so lucky. Like Tom had promised you that day when he proposed to you, he stuck around and was there for you. Through thick and thin.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


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